With 2 bronze medals bagged, speed skater sees himself as future Olympic champion

BEIJING-- South Korean speed skater Kim Min-seok arrived in Beijing for his second Winter Olympics believing he had done enough work to finally win a coveted gold medal.

Then reality slapped him in the face.

This isn't to say Kim's performance was a disaster by any means. The 22-year-old did win his second straight bronze medal in the 1,500m, behind the two Dutch veterans Kjeld Nuis and Thomas Krol. But Kim isn't one to feel satisfied with a third-place prize. With his prime years still likely ahead of him, Kim envisions himself as a future Olympic gold medalist.

"As I watched the two skaters ahead of me (Nuis and Krol), I realized just how much harder I have to try," Kim said Friday after finishing 24th at 1:10.08 in the 1,000m, his last race at the National Speed Skating Oval. "I am 22 now. I'd like to compete at three or four more Olympics. World class skaters hit their primes in their late 20s, and I am expecting some big things out of myself at the next Olympics in Milan (in 2026)."

Specifically, Kim said he wants to improve his conditioning and endurance. Between winning his 1,500m bronze and competing in the 1,000m, Kim had two team pursuit races, on Sunday and then on Tuesday. Kim said he never recovered physically from doing the two eight-lap races in three days.

"I've often had trouble in the 1,000m when I also had to do the team pursuit in the same competition," Kim said, referring to some World Cup races from previous seasons. "I am going to have to give up on long distance events and start focusing more on 1,000m and 1,500m."

There may be no better role model for Kim than Nuis, who has won the past two Olympic gold medals in the 1,500m and the 2018 gold medal in the 1,000m. In addition to learning from the Dutch skater, Kim also wants to get the better of him soon.

"I am going to try to catch him eventually," Kim said. "I don't want to be trailing him all the time."

Source: Yonhap News Agency

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